Book Review: At The Stroke Of Madness

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

At The Stroke Of Madness     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Alex Kava
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Serial Killer   Police Procedural   FBI
Series: Maggie O'Dell # 4
Mira, August 2003, $24.95, 400pp.

D.C. based artist Joan Begley already felt lonely when the only person she felt cared about her died. Joan heads to middle Connecticut for the funeral. While in the Wallingford area she meets Sonny who has befriended her over the Internet. However, instead of showing Joan kindness he abducts her.

Joan’s psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Patterson worries about her patient who she is quite fond of when she seemingly fails to check out of her room or catch her flight home. She calls her best friend FBI Special Agent, profiling expert Maggie O’Dell to see if she can learn what happened to Joan. When a female corpse is found in the area, Maggie uses her vacation time to see what happened. As other bodies are found it looks like a serial killer seems to operating in the area. Maggie takes charge of the investigation even though her superior tells her to keep her butt out. Local Sheriff Watermeir is pleased to see her on the case so she can be his fall guy if all goes wrong.

The latest O’Dell police procedural is an exciting suspense laden tale. The serial killer story line hooks the audience because of the strong cast working the law enforcement side. In many ways the culprit is typical of the serial killer tale. However, Alex Kava enables the audience to see inside the head of the heroine and several other characters, especially an Alzheimer’s victim and the sheriff, so that AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS turns into a fast-paced, one sitting novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner